Monthly Archives: August 2011

This episode is a joint interview that we did with The Sarlacc Pit’s hosts Chris and Matt.

We talked to Stephen Stanton, aka Captain Tarkin,

and Stephen’s good friend Rick Fitts,

and also their agents Dutch and Kathy!

This episode was so much fun that I think it became more of a round-table than an interview!

The topics of discussion included Death Star One.

We also had questions for Stephen about The Clone Wars season 4.

Please help our little Princess Leah pull through this first year of her life.

We also asked our guests a number of other questions such as:

“If you could create and voice a character for TCW, what species would he (possibly she or it) be? What type of character?”

“What’s one of the hardest voice over characters you’ve voiced? What made it hard?”

Rick has know Harrison Ford for awhile, so Chris asked him an interesting question.

“Knowing Harrison, what is your opinion of his so-called dislike of Star Wars?”

This is just a sample of the many questions we asked, and then the tables turned and Stephen, Rick, Dutch and Kathy asked us, Chris and Matt questions! That was a lot of fun; as podcasts hosts, it’s not too often that someone’s asking us the questions.

Top 10 Expanded Universe Characters Who Could Be in The Clone Wars (but Probably Never Will Be)

We still have a little while until there will be more Clone Wars on TV, and all this waiting got me thinking. As a fan of The Clone Wars and the Star Wars Expanded Universe, I always like to see some crossover. I know that the current Clone Wars series so far hasn’t completely gelled with the existing stories from the EU, especially the comics. That doesn’t mean we can’t have some character crossover. I mean, they have already had episodes featuring the characters of Quinlan Vos and Aayla Secura who were both comic book characters first. Other characters who were barely in the films but have been extensively fleshed out in the comics and novels have also made appearances, Kit Fisto, Ki-Adi Mundi, and Aurra Sing just to name a few. So why not bring more Expanded Universe characters into The Clone Wars animated series?

Everyone likes a top 10 list, so here are the Top 10 Expanded Universe characters that could be (but probably never will be) in The Clone Wars.

10. Zao

Zao was a blind Veknoid Jedi Master who didn’t really fight in the Clone Wars. He pretty much just wandered around doing his own thing. He was opposed to the Jedi serving as leaders in the Clone Wars, which could make for an interesting story line in the current Clone Wars series. Zao was willing to use his lightsaber when necessary though, helping Quinlan Vos (who has already made an appearance in the show) and Master Tholme (we’ll get to him) in the comic storyline Darkness. Plus, one of the higher ups at Lucasfilm must like the character. When the creators of the Darkness story arc wanted to kill him off they were told “no”. You also have to wonder if he may have been inspiration for the character Tera Senube in The Clone Wars episode “Lightsaber Lost”, with his odd looks and his lightsaber walking stick. You can see Zao in the Republic comic series, specifically the storylines Darkness and Trackdown.

9. Durge

If you have seen the Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars cartoon you are probably familiar with Durge. He is the bounty hunter that Obi-Wan cuts in half but doesn’t die because he is made up of tentacles or something. Come to think of it, Kenobi doesn’t have too much luck killing people with the cut in half move (assuming Maul is really alive). Maybe he should start going for the head.

Durge is very prominent in the Expanded Universe, showing up in comics, young readers books, and even has a couple mentions in the novels. At one point he was considered as a character to appear in The Clone Wars show but the idea was dropped in favor of some bounty hunter named Cad Bane. But I say still bring him in. He obviously has a bone to pick with Kenobi and he likes to kill clones. I want to see his armor, flamethrowers, dart launchers, and lightsaber blocking wrist shields in all their digitally animated glory. Plus, he and Ventress are buddies.
A couple of good stories to catch him in are the Republic comic arc The New Face of War and the comic series Obsession.

8. Dass Jennir

Just when we thought the Republic comic series was winding down we were given a great new character in the final two issues. Dass Jennir was a Jedi Master serving in the Clone Wars on the world New Plympto. He and his clones were fighting against the native Nosaurians when Order 66 was executed. Jennir barely escaped with his life and had to take refuge with the Nosaurans he had been fighting against. Most of Jennir’s story in the comics takes place after the time of The Clone Wars tv show, but what was he doing in the years leading up to Order 66? With his long white hair and complex personality he could be an intriguing and unique character to watch in The Clone Wars. Send him on a mission as a mentor to Anakin or something. As we see in the comics he has his own issues with flirting with the Dark Side when his back is to the wall, and as Dezono Qua found out, he’s pretty good with a blaster.

Check out the Republic story arc Path to Nowhere and the Dark Times comic series for more on Dass Jennir.

7. The Dark Woman

In the current Clone Wars animated series Aurra Sing is a Jedi killing bounty hunter. In the Republic comic series she was a Jedi killing bounty hunter who also happened to use the Force. She was the white skinned, almost bald headed, two lightsaber using, enemy of the Jedi way before Assaj Ventress. Who discovered her and trained her in the Jedi arts? The Dark Woman. Unfortunately she failed in training Sing for good and left the Jedi Order for 12 years to rethink her life. The Clone Wars series so far has stayed away from showing Aurra Sing’s Jedi past and it will most likely stay that way. That doesn’t mean they can’t give us a Clone Wars version of her backstory and incorporate the Dark Woman somehow. The Dark Woman also has ties to Ki-Adi Mundi who has already appeared in the series. They could even play up some animosity between her and Anakin, considering he will eventually track her down and kill her during the Jedi Purge.

Republic: The Hunt for Aurra Sing and the Tales comic story Extinction are both fun reads featuring The Dark Woman.

6. K’Kruhk

The Whiphid that just won’t die. K’Kruhk survived near death experiences at the battle of Teyr and in combat with both General Grievous and Quinlan Vos. On at least two occasions he was believed to be dead. But it takes more than that to keep this Jedi down and he managed to resurface in many Clone Wars stories, the post Order 66 Dark Times comic series, and in the far future Legacy comic series. He ,along with Ki-Adi Mundi and Aayla Secura, even had an appearance in the Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars cartoon. He is an interesting character who is physically imposing but intellectual and loyal. He even left the Clone Wars for a while to reevaluate the Jedi’s involvement in the war. Sounds like a storyline that could fit right into The Clone Wars show. Plus he has a really sweet hat.

The comic Jedi: Mace Windu is a great introduction to the character.

5. Alpha-17

Before there was Rex there was Alpha. In the comics Alpha is the ARC trooper who can be found fighting alongside of Anakin and Obi-Wan in a number of issues. He is a hard-nosed clone who only has the Republic’s best interests in mind. Alpha was originally supposed to be the character that eventually became Rex. Apparently George Lucas thought there were already enough “A” names (Anakin, Ahsoka, Artoo…). He was so close! But now we are three seasons in so why not bring him in? In the comics he has already fought along-side of Clone Wars characters Anakin, Obi-Wan, Shaak Ti, Ki-Adi Mundi, and he has fought against General Grievous and Asajj Ventress. According to Expanded Universe lore he is also the clone responsible for training the clone commanders Cody and Gree. This guy is a pretty important clone, and since the series is called The Clone Wars, there is always room for another. Plus Alpha is a really cool name for a clone.

Check out Republic 50: The Defense of Kamino for Alpha in action.

4. Tholme

In The Clone Wars show we have already seen EU characters Aayla Secura and Quinlan Vos. It only makes sense to have their master appear on the show as well. Jedi Master Tholme in the comics was the Jedi who found and trained Quinlan Vos. He also took Aayla Secura under his wing while Vos was recovering from his amnesia and fighting temptations of the Dark Side. Tholme was a central character in many of the Republic comic storylines that featured Quinlan Vos. Although he was a believer in Jedi tradition he also had a more devious side. He was responsible for setting up a spy network to track the movements of Dooku and had the chance to take down Dooku early in the Clone Wars. Unfortunately he lost to Dooku in a lightsaber duel and also lost his eye in the fight. I would love to see a Clone Wars episode featuring Quinlan Vos and Tholme hunting down and facing Dooku. And with that cool scar on his face Tholme would be a unique looking new character for the show.

Just a few of the great Republic comic stories featuring Tholme are Darkness, Trackdown, and The Siege of Saleucami

3. A’Sharad Hett

A Tusken Raider Jedi. That’s something I never thought I would see. Then it’s revealed (spoiler alert from over 7 years ago) he is not actually a Tusken but the son of a rogue Jedi who lived among the Tuskens. A visually intriguing character, Hett wears the garb of a Tusken Raider and weilds two lightsabers. Once his human face is revealed he is seen sporting some very Sith like facial tattoos. A’sharad Hett is about as central as an Expanded Universe character can get when it comes to the comics. His story starts with the some of the first comics released in 1999 after the release of The Phantom Menace and his “Legacy” still can be seen in the latest comics from Dark Horse. He has appeared with many major players in The Clone Wars including Anakin, Obi-Wan and was the padawan of Ki-Adi Mundi. He even has a vendetta against Aurra Sing considering she killed his father. And think of how interesting it would be to see Anakin’s reaction to a Tusken Raider Jedi. We know Anakin HATES THEM…and the women and children too.

Early stories featuring Hett include the Republic story arcs Outlander and The Hunt for Aurra Sing.

2. Sora Bulq

This one is kind of cheating. Sora Bulq isn’t really an EU character having appeared in Attack of the Clones as a background character in the arena at Geonosis. He also has kind of already appeared in The Clone Wars show. In the season two episode “Grievous Intrigue” there was a background Weequay Jedi who was identified as “Sora Bulq” in design documents, although it was never made official that the character was actually Bulq. Bulq is much more an Expanded Universe character than he is a movie character though. In the movie he is no more than a background Jedi. In the comics he is a major character who betrays the Jedi and forms a group of Dark Jedi who fight for Dooku. He is so bad that Quinlan Vos is convinced that he is the second Sith and will stop at nothing to kill him. Sora Bulq out of all these characters may be the most likely to actually show up in the The Clone Wars show. A return of Quinlan Vos is always possible and Sora Bulq makes sense as an adversary for him. Also they already have a character model for a Weequay Jedi.

Check out some Sora Bulq stories in the comic Jedi: Mace Windu and the Republic storyline The Siege of Saleucami.

1. Thrawn

Grand Admiral Thrawn is arguably the most popular character to come out of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Thrawn was also alive in the Star Wars galaxy during the Clone Wars. Fans have been calling for his inclusion in The Clone Wars show since the show started back in 2008. But where would he fit in? Thrawn has already appeared in a Prequel Era novel which takes place years before the beginning of the Clone Wars. In this novel he is responsible for the destruction of Outbound Flight and after its destruction he is banished to an uninhabited planet. Also according to the EU Thrawn was not recruited by Palpatine until after the Clone Wars were over. So if I am getting my timeline right Thrawn was hanging out on a planet by himself for the entire duration of the Clone Wars. Of course The Clone Wars show doesn’t mind writing their own version of existing EU stories so they could very well include Thrawn and already have him in the Republic Navy during the Clone Wars. Recently the author who brought Thrawn into the galaxy, Tim Zahn, has expressed interest in writing some episodes of The Clone Wars and if anyone can figure out how to fit Thrawn in it’s him.

If you are reading this article you probably have already read the Tim Zahn books known as the Thrawn Trilogy. If not, go read them. Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command.

Who is the Expanded Universe character you would like to see most in The Clone Wars? Let us know in the comments!

Back in our June 13th TCW Weekly Roundup we mentioned a cool feature added to Sony Online Entertainment’s Star Wars Clone Wars Adventures on-line game. The folks at Sony have been working with the Lucasfilm team that develops The Clone Wars animated series and is integrating events that will be happening in the show into the game.

This summer Clone Wars Adventures launched a bridge story leading up to the Season Four premiere of The Clone Wars. The “Mission on Iceberg Three” campaign consists of four mini-games: Iceberg Approach, Race to the Tower, Emergency Evacuation, and Frozen Showdown. As your intrepid Clone Wars correspondent, I signed up for Clone Wars Adventures and took on the Separatist menace for some Clanker killing good times.

While Clone Wars Adventures is technically a free game, you need to purchase a membership in order to play all four of the levels, only the first one, Iceberg Approach, is available for non-members. The Clone Wars Adventures is also geared to a younger audience and as such the games have simple controls that, once mastered, makes them easy to win.

Iceberg Approach may be the most fun of the games, you are in a Jedi Star fighter in an arcade style dogfight with Separatist fighters and cruisers. Strategy is largely irrelevant; simply hold down the fire control bottom and you can shoot your way through the level.

Race to the Tower looks like an old side scrolling Atari game with better graphics. You move your 2D LAAT up, down, back and forward on the screen and destroy all the different Separatist ships and droids that get in your way. Once you destroy a target it leaves behind a bonus that you need to try to collect.

Emergency Evacuation is a tower defense game that gets a little repetitive as you are wading through seven waves of clankers. But it does hearken back to The Empire Strikes Back’s battle on Hoth, as you are fighting a delaying action simply to allow time for your transports to escape.

Frozen Showdown is a lightsaber duel game where you take on General Grievous. Using the directional arrows on your keyboard, a series of arrows appears on screen that you need to match quicker than the computer does. If you input the commands the quickest your character will score a blow and a point versus Grievous, if you mess up or take too long entering the commands then Grievous will score a blow.

Truth be told, I didn’t play the Iceberg Three campaign for the game play, I really wanted to find out what plot points it might have leading into the Season Four Mon Calamari trilogy of episodes.

The story begins with Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Jedi Master Plo Koon receiving a holographic transmission from a new character, Mon Calamari King Yos Kolina. Apparently the Republic is receiving a special metallic ore from the Mon Calamari which is used to strengthen the armor on their warships. The loss of the Mon Cal system to the Separatists would be a blow to the Republic’s war efforts.

What the Jedi do not find out until the task force led by Plo Koon, Clone Commander Wolffe and the 104th Battalion (Wolfpack) arrive is that the situation in system is far worse then they realized. Grievous has overrun almost the entire system; the race begins as the Republic forces must reach the final communications post not in Separatist hands to inform the Jedi Council of the situation, then they must fight a delaying action to allow Republic transports to remove civilians from Iceberg Three before the planet is overrun by Separatist forces. Even though Grievous is eventually defeated in personal combat on Iceberg Three, victory soon turns into defeat as it is learned that Mon Calamari King Kolina has been assassinated. The Mon Calamari home world of Dac is on the verge of civil war between the two dominant species on the planet the Mon Calamari and the Quarren. Apparently the King was a great unifier keeping the two peoples together. In wake of the King’s death the Republic is sending Senator Padme Amidala and Jedi General Anakin Skywalker to the planet as Representatives to attempt to avert civil war. Unfortunately for our heroes, the Separatists are also sending an envoy, Riff Tamson, a Karkarodon to cause trouble.

Tamson has appeared in some of the Season 4 teaser material, he is the shark-like alien who is having an all you can eat calamari buffet.

The cut scenes also mention a few locations, such as Sector 327 and the planet Mon Eron which is in the Calamari system. Captain Wolffe gets some sick snowtrooper gear, Master Plo gets some nifty mittens, and we also see Captain Rex and some scuba troopers hanging around. On Iceberg Three we get to see some AT-RTs and an AT-TE walking around.

I have a feeling that the events covered in the game will be the content that makes up the news reel at the beginning of the season premier. Hearing the new dialogue was enough to get me craving a new episode of The Clone Wars, Season Four cannot get here soon enough.